by Rob Stevenson | 9 December 2025 | Bulletin
“I’ll just go to the Fair Work Commission and tell my story”. It is a familiar refrain, but it’s not that simple, and it’s about to get harder. The Fair Work Commission is struggling with an increased workload. This means that claimants and respondents alike need...
by Rob Stevenson | 7 November 2025 | Bulletin
Breaker Morant reputedly said “We caught them and we shot them under Rule 303”. The worst thing an employer can do is make a snap decision to terminate employment. This is particularly the case where no procedural fairness is given and the employer is...
by Rob Stevenson | 15 October 2025 | Bulletin
We sometimes see tension between employed chief executives and volunteer boards of management, particularly in the not for profit sector. This includes the operational chief executive whether described as a CEO, general manager or coordinator and the governing body...
by Rob Stevenson | 8 September 2025 | Bulletin
The terminated employee has a variety of legal options open to them. They usually involve the employer having to explain and justify their reasons for termination, sometimes in court. This can be an uncomfortable experience and decisions which seemed clear at the...
by Rob Stevenson | 11 August 2025 | Bulletin
There has been an increasing level of individual workplace disputes in recent years. In its last annual report, the Fair Work Commission (FWC) noted an almost one third increase in the number of applications over the previous year. A significant reason in our view...
by Rob Stevenson | 7 July 2025 | Bulletin
When an employee’s job gets made redundant, they normally get a redundancy payment right? Sometimes employers are reluctant to make redundancy payments, particularly where employers have generous policies or enterprise agreements providing for more than the National...
by Rob Stevenson | 24 June 2025 | Bulletin
The Fair Work Commission (FWC) handed down its Annual Wage Review decision on 3 June 2025. The FWC decided to increase the National Minimum Wage and all modern award rates by 3.5% (the rise in award rates over the last 3 years has been 3.75%, 5.75% and 4.6%...
by Rob Stevenson | 9 May 2025 | Bulletin
Australia is fast becoming a country of contractors. Be your own boss, work when you want to, set your own rates; it sounds appealing but the reality is often very different. Anyone considering becoming a contractor should understand what they are getting into...
by Rob Stevenson | 10 April 2025 | Bulletin
It’s fair to say Australia has one of the better systems of employee protections and conditions going. This is reflected in several recent efforts by overseas employees to bring unfair dismissal and breach of general protections rights claims. Australian employees...
by Rob Stevenson | 13 March 2025 | Bulletin
The Fair Work Act National Employment Standards (NES) form the foundations of employment legal obligations in Australia. The NES apply to all employees regardless of income and cannot be contracted out of. Employees have powerful rights to make workplace flexibility...
